This invention relates in general to the field of communication systems, in particular to orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication systems and more particularly to an improved synchronization of OFDM communication systems.
Transmission of wideband digital data has become necessary due to evolving standards for high definition television (HDTV), digital video broadcasting, and wideband data networks. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a way to enhance the performance of wideband wireless communication links degraded by co-channel interference, impulsive noise, and frequency-selective fading. In the past, implementation complexity slowed the development of OFDM for useful commercial and handheld applications. With recent advances in semiconductor processing technology and digital signal processing, OFDM is now practical for system solutions including wireless LANs, audio and television broadcast radio links, and land mobile services.
With the recent emergence of wideband cellular, and global satellite networks, a system and method are needed to provide synchronization of wideband wireless transmitted digital data which can be multiplexed onto a multicarrier waveform in a spectrally efficient manner. What is also needed is a system and method for digital synchronization that provides improved accurate timing and frequency tracking estimates for severely degraded and noisy channel environments. What is also needed is a method and system for synchronization correcting large timing misalignment of received multi-carrier waveforms, and provides acquisition of frequency offsets on the order of the RF signal bandwidth.